Star-Studded Front Porch

SPECIAL EVENT : 4TH ANNUAL WHEELS OF WELLNESS RACE DRIVERS’ PANELS ach year, The Wellness Community of Phoenix, a Bobby Rahal; Danica Patrick; the only woman to win an gram. Since his grandson had a race to run at the South transition from cars raced by private sportsmen to cars STAR-STUDDED Ecenter which provides free support for people Indy car race; Desire Wilson, the only woman to win a Mountain quartermidget track, Sneva has to bow out of raced with corporate sponsorship, or sometimes by driv- suffering from cancer and for those who care for those Formula One race; and Denise McCluggage, who raced Wheels of Wellness. ers who secured financial backing and bought their rides. people, hosts the Wheels of Wellness as a fund-raiser sports and rally cars in the 1960s against the likes of After the contemporary drivers talked about the Wilson, who earned her rides solely on her driving FRONT PORCH that helps pay for some of those programs. Each year, a Carroll Shelby, Stirling Moss, Phil Hill and others, and importance of racing teams, McCluggage mesmerized skill, told of being promised a spot on the Brabham who won her class in the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally. the audience with her story about the 1961 24-hour race Formula One team as teammate to Nelson Piquet, who BY LARRY EDSALL few drivers are invited to sit for a panel discussion about historic and contemporary auto racing. Moderator for that panel was former Indy 500 rookie-of- at Sebring. She owned a Ferrari 250GT that she drove would go on to win the 1981 World Champion ship. American racing specials, those home-built, V8-powered sports racers that The drivers are not paid, but they like the event so the-year Lyn St. James. both on the track and on the streets of New York City, However, just as the season was beginning, Wilson much that this year so many of them showed up they But even then, there wasn’t enough room on the where she lived and worked as a journalist. discovered that her car would be driven instead by challenged the likes of Jaguar, Ferrari, Aston Martin and Porsche on race tracks had to have two panel discussions to fit them all in. front porch of the Wellness Center for all the celebrities She drove the Ferrari to Florida, raced it for 12 hours Hector Rebaque. in the late 1950s and early 1960s, were the featured cars at the fourth annual The first panel featured two-time Indi an apolis 500 in attendance. Drivers Billy Boat (Indy cars) and Darren at Sebring—she and her codriver finished 10th overall She approached team owner Bernie Ecclestone and winners Arie Luyendyk and Dario Franchitti, two-time Law (sports cars) and author and car collector Clive and first in their class— and then she drove the Ferrari asked why the change had been made. Wheels of Wellness historic race car show that kicks off Arizona classic car 24 Hours of Daytona winner Didier Theys and world Cussler also were on hand. to Chicago for another race before driving it back to “He has really good hands,” Ecclestone told her. One driver who had planned to attend was missing. New York. Wilson looked at her own hands and asked what was auction week each January. But the stars of the show were the race car drivers GT2 and Le Mans 24-hours winner Justin Bell, with former racing team owner Harley Cluxton III as moderator. Three-time Indy 500 pole winner Tom Sneva serves as While McCluggage raced before the advent of major wrong with them. who came to see those cars and to talk about their lives and their racing. The second panel included Franchitti; Indy winner crew chief for his grandson’s quarter-midget racing pro- racing teams as we know them, Wilson raced during the “His write really big checks,” Eccle stone responded. ■ Photos: Larry Edsall [2] Photos: PANEL ONE: Justin Bell, Didier Theys, Harley Cluxton III, Arie Luyendyk, Dario Franchitti. PANEL TWO: Lyn St. James, Dario Franchitti, Desire Wilson, Bobby Rahal, Denise McCluggage, Danica Patrick. Photos: Joe Sage [10] Photos: 14 • March-April 2011 • ARIZONADRIVER ARIZONADRIVER • March-April 2011 • 15.

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